The Global Literacy Project, Inc. (GLP) is a New Jersey based nonprofit and tax-exempt organization that develops community-based literacy initiatives throughout the world primarily through the creation of libraries and library support programs in rural schools and community centers in Africa, South Asia and the Caribbean (Agee, 2003; Niessen 2004).
The organization began operating in 1999 and then was formally registered as a 501(c)3 non-profit in 2002 with a founding board of Dr. Olubayi Olubayi from Kenya; Mr. Denniston Bonadie from St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean; Ms. Diana Dade, Dr. Thelma Tate and Ms. Sivan Yosef from New Jersey, USA; Dr. Edward Ramsamy, originally from South Africa; Dr. Emeka Akaezuwa from Nigeria; Ms. Kavitha Ramachandran, an Indian-American; and Mr. Wendel Thomas, from St. Croix and Dominica in the Caribbean (New Jersey Gov't: New Jersey Business Gateway Service). The organization has developed a model of community development centered around libraries as practical knowledge centers. With developmental assistance from the Rutgers Libraries Global Outreach Program it has become known for its innovations in library access for formerly neglected communities (Tate 2004).
Initiatives focus primarily on rural and/or distressed communities and they have established libraries and literacy support programs in Africa (Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Swaziland, South Africa); South Asia (India-Tamil Nadu); and the Caribbean (Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines). In these locations they attempt to pioneer their model, called a "High Literacy Cluster." The High Literacy Cluster (HLC) consists of schools, homes, libraries, and community centers full of books, computers and other literacy materials, where a general awareness is fostered, among all age groups, of the power of literacy as a tool for lifelong learning, personal upliftment, and self-reliance.
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